Last year we decided to start a tradition…neighborhood cookies! In an effort to reach out and get to know our neighbors, the holiday season provides an atmosphere conducive to this very thing, we bake and deliver cookies to our neighbors. In addition, it affords an opportunity to teach a few lessons to our children along the way.

First, the work behind the cookies. The baking, decorating, preparing and packaging. Jody, my beautiful wife, spent the majority of the day mixing, rolling, baking and decorating a variety of cookies, all the while engaging Rhiannon and Kade in the process.

Kade decorating…

Appreciating and valuing the preparation and origin of the food we eat has become a focal point in our family, adding another great lesson for us to teach our kids. Near day’s end, the table overflowed with heartfelt goodness.

Staging area…

The loading of plates into our mobile delivery system began!

Loading the delivery wagon…

Baking the cookies, the time spent preparing (a bit of eating) and decorating, all led to the best part of the day…the delivery! Going door to door to give our neighbors these plates of cookies seems like a gift from us to them, but in my eyes, it is a gift to us as people who share a block of space in our community.

Off we go…

The opportunity be with old friends, neighbors we know well, enhances our sense of belonging to one another.

The Beeson’s receiving their cookies…

The opportunity to use this time to meet one or two new neighbors and future friends, brings a sense of hope. A hope that this “life time” of neighboring, and practice of welcoming, will help facilitate the abundant community that we seek. The lessons learned and taught by all of us, will hopefully pave a way to a better place to live for our children. One where we stop being too busy to know each other, care for each other and rely on each other. All people who share this place we call our neighborhood. We just need to invite people in…and perhaps, during this season, one plate of cookies at a time!

3 responses to “Neighborhood Cookies…”

This LITERALLY warmed my heart. As in, I could feel it getting warm. Wonderful photos, especially the last with your daughter and the elder gentleman. His smile is priceless. Changing the world can be fun and delicious, as you all have just proven yet again. Thank you for all the conscious choices you make to shift us from isolation to connectedness, from scarcity to abundance.

Come In From The Cold · WELCOME… How can we make sure we invite everybody in, leaving nobody out in the cold? SIT… How do we get to know one another better? To start to care? STAY… How can we deepen our connections and dream together about a beloved community? This blog is a space of observations, questions and reflection about community. From San Diego and Scotland, we discovered that we needed to embark on a joint learning journey. We invite you to join us. – Kirk Hinkleman and Linda Keys